Lockerbie bomber found in Tripoli villa 'close to death'

Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi pictured in September 2009, as he arrived in Libya after being released early from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds (reuters)

The Lockerbie bomber has been tracked down to his villa in Tripoli, where he is apparently comatose and near death, CNN has reported.

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only man convicted over the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103, was found bedridden and dependent on an an intravenous drip, surrounded by his family in their grand home in the Libyan capital.

His relatives told the US news network their house had been ransacked by looters who plundered all his medicine. Megrahi's son, Khaled, said he had no idea how much longer his father had to live, but insisted he should be able to spend his last few days in peace at home. "There is no doctor, there is nobody to ask and we don't have a phoneline to call anybody," he said.

His family said he had not been eating and they did not know how to treat him.

CNN's reporter Nic Robertson said Megrahi looked far worse than he had done when he last saw him two years ago and described his appearance as "much iller, much sicker, his face is sunken...just a shell of the man he was".

He added: "I was shocked when I walked into the room and saw him in such a state."

William Hague yesterday reportedly dismissed the possibility of Megrahi returning to a UK prison. The Foreign Secretary also sought to play down concerns that the new Libyan government will refuse to hand over the man suspected of shooting WPC Yvonne Fletcher. PA